The Home Swimmer and the Swim School Swimmer
“At home, Susy LOVES the water.”
“When Johnny is at home, he will jump in all by himself to me!”
“Mary does so much better swimming at home then she does here in class.”
ALL of these are common phrases that we hear at AquaChamps Swim School. The “Home Swimmer” vs the “School Swimmer” is a common scenario that we run into. I am always surprised when a parent thinks that their child is the only one that has this experience; I have been teaching for decades and can assure you that this is quite common. I wanted to take this opportunity to address the issues that our swimmers face, and help our parents understand what is going on in their little swimmer’s body.
A swimmer’s home pool provides an unstructured, free-flow, play-filled learning experience; which is great! It offers a place of comfort, and many “home swimmers” will use his/her pool to begin building more confidence. This free play is an integral part to the development of a safer, smarter swimmer. “Home swimmers” are also able to openly explore the water and test things out on his/her own terms. This independent exploration is also critical to creating a successful swimmer. When your swimmer is at home, we encourage you to play with them and let them explore; do not always make it a swimming lesson.
For the “Swim School Swimmer” there may be some objections or expressions of opinion that you do not see at home. At school your child is put into a structured setting that does not offer your swimmer the chance to freely do what they want, which can create a swimmer that is upset. At school your swimmer is in a controlled environment, which limits them from independent exploration. At school your swimmer is also challenged beyond their comfort level so that our instructors can promote the development of new skills.
Bottomline…Both home swimming and school swimming are GREAT! Just because your swimmer is crying or objecting to something at school, does not mean they are not learning. Just because your swimmer is not freely doing a skill that they do at home, does not mean they are regressing. Our job, as swim instructors and coaches, is to work through the objections, to build confidence and to challenge our swimmers to become great. Some swimmers rise to the challenge more easily than others, but AquaChamps Swim School will never stop building champions in and out of the water. MOST IMPORTANTLY…The reason your swimmer is swimming so well at home is because of swimming at school.
Related posts:
“Don’t Overthink It!”: Helping an Anxious Swimmer
Parenting: The Masterclass in Letting Go
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